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Featuring

Chris Galeski, Director of Growth & Advice and Partner, Morton Wealth

Stacey McKinnon, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, and Partner, Morton Wealth

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Most people learn about money informally, picking up habits and beliefs from the adults around them before they are old enough to question whether those habits are good ones. By age seven, research suggests your money script is largely already written. And for people who grew up without access to financial education, that script can create a cycle that is hard to break without help.

In this episode of Financial Commute, Chris Galeski sits down with Stacey McKinnon, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Operating Officer, to talk about the work Morton Wealth is doing through the Foundation for Financial Planning to get professional financial advice into the hands of people who would never otherwise have access to it, and why that work matters more right now than most people realize.

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Key Takeaways

• Financial literacy is a secret weapon that not everyone has equal access to. Stacey describes financial education as the secret weapon that certain people have and others do not. The families, schools, and communities that produce financially confident adults do so not by accident but because financial knowledge was passed down or taught. The Foundation for Financial Planning exists specifically to close that gap.

• Morton Wealth gives its talent, not just its time and money. Chris opens the conversation by distinguishing between three ways to give back: time, treasure, and talent. The pro bono work Morton does through the Foundation is about deploying the specific professional skill set its team has built, and doing so for people who could never afford to pay for it. Twelve Morton team members sat one on one with around fifty domestic abuse survivors at the Survivor Summit in Los Angeles.

• The four-course workshop series covers the foundations most people never received. Stacey developed a curriculum organized around four areas: a wants, needs, and dreams analysis; money scripts and mindset; credit card habits and debt; and investing in yourself through skills that increase income. The series was piloted with James Storehouse, a nonprofit serving foster youth, where participants were averaging seven credit cards by age twenty, most of them already in collections.

• Your money script is written by age seven. One of the more striking insights Stacey shares is that research shows money habits and beliefs are largely formed by early childhood. That means most adults are operating from a financial worldview they absorbed before they had any ability to evaluate it. Acknowledging where you are today, without judgment, is the starting point for changing the script.

• Small and early matters more than large and later. Chris shares a story from the James Storehouse workshop about a mother who saved fifty dollars every paycheck from the time her son was born. By the time he graduated high school at eighteen, the account held nineteen thousand dollars. For young people starting with nothing, this is the conversation that changes the trajectory.

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Key Moments from This Episode

0:00 – Intro: financial education as the secret weapon not everyone has

1:01 – Welcome: how Morton gives back through time, treasure, and talent

2:27 – What is the Foundation for Financial Planning and how does Morton work with them?

3:34 – Pro Bono Planner Match: one-on-one financial advice for veterans, cancer patients, and widowers

3:59 – The Survivor Summit: sitting with 50 women coming out of domestic abuse

5:09 – Why financial literacy aligns so deeply with Morton's mission

7:12 – The four-course workshop series: wants, money mindset, credit, and investing in yourself

10:16 – James Storehouse: teaching foster youth who had seven credit cards by age 20

11:19 – The power of starting small: $50 a paycheck turning into $19,000

12:55 – How client nonprofits can connect with the Foundation for Financial Planning

16:20 – Closing wish: spreading the secret weapon of financial education to everyone

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Questions This Episode Answers

What is pro bono financial planning?

Pro bono financial planning is professional financial advice provided at no cost to individuals who could not otherwise afford it. The Foundation for Financial Planning organizes this work through a platform called Pro Bono Planner Match, where financial planners can sign up to be paired one-on-one with people in need, including military veterans, cancer patients, domestic abuse survivors, and widowers. Morton Wealth has been involved with the Foundation for about three years and participates through individual one-on-one sessions, group workshops, and larger events like the Survivor Summit.

What is the Foundation for Financial Planning?

The Foundation for Financial Planning is a nonprofit organization that connects underserved communities with professional financial planners, provides grants to other nonprofits doing work in the financial literacy space, and helps financial advisory firms build pro bono planning into their practice. Last year the Foundation distributed over one million dollars in grants to other nonprofits. It also offers a vetted directory of causes for donors who want to give charitably but are unsure which organizations are doing strong work in a particular area.

What did Morton Wealth do at the Survivor Summit?

The Survivor Summit was an event in Los Angeles dedicated to women coming out of domestic abuse situations. Approximately twelve Morton Wealth team members attended and spent the day in back-to-back thirty-minute one on one financial planning conversations with around fifty participants. Many of the women were dealing with debt, raising children alone, and working toward financial independence for the first time. Chris skipped lunch to meet with a woman who had not signed up but showed up and wanted to talk to someone. The team focused not just on budgeting but on building skills and confidence that could lead to better income and more stability.

What do Morton's pro bono financial planning workshops cover?

The four-course workshop series Stacey developed covers: a wants, needs, and dreams analysis that helps participants build a spending strategy aligned with their actual goals; money scripts and the mindset behind financial behavior, including where financial beliefs come from and how to evaluate them; credit card habits and debt strategies for people who are already in collections or carrying high balances; and investing in yourself through skills like writing, communication, interview preparation, and resume building that increase earning potential. The series was designed to be delivered once a quarter through existing nonprofit organizations that already serve the communities in need.

How can a nonprofit get involved with the Foundation for Financial Planning?

Nonprofits can apply to Pro Bono Planner Match to be paired with financial planners who will provide free advice to their community members. They can also apply for grant funding directly from the Foundation for Financial Planning. Morton Wealth selects a handful of nonprofits each year to partner with for workshops and community programming. Organizations interested in working with Morton specifically can reach out to Austin, who leads Morton's charitable initiative, to explore whether a partnership makes sense.

Why does financial literacy matter so much for underserved communities?

Stacey describes financial education as a secret weapon that certain people have and others do not. The families and schools that produce financially confident adults tend to do so because financial knowledge was modeled, taught, or discussed at home. For the roughly fifty percent of young people who grow up without that foundation, entering adulthood means making consequential financial decisions without the tools to evaluate them. The consequences compound quickly: credit card debt in collections by twenty, no emergency fund, no understanding of how saving early changes outcomes over a lifetime.

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Why This Matters for Clients Who Want Their Wealth to Have Meaning Beyond Their Portfolio

For many Morton Wealth clients, the question of how to use financial resources for lasting impact is one they are already asking. This episode opens up a specific and tangible answer. The Foundation for Financial Planning does work that is directly connected to the skills Morton has built, and the way Morton is deploying those skills in the community reflects the same philosophy that shapes client relationships: financial advice should serve the life someone is trying to build, not just the balance sheet.

• Clients who are looking for charitable causes aligned with education, financial empowerment, or serving vulnerable populations including veterans, domestic abuse survivors, and foster youth
• Anyone who has wondered what it would look like for a financial firm to give back in a way that goes beyond writing a check

At Morton Wealth, giving our talent is not separate from who we are as a firm. It is an extension of the same belief that drives every client conversation: financial knowledge changes lives, and more people deserve access to it. If this episode resonated and you want to learn more about the Foundation for Financial Planning or how to support the work, reach out to your advisor or contact Austin directly.

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Disclosures: Information presented herein is for discussion and illustrative purposes only and is not intended to constitute financial advice. The views and opinions expressed by the speakers are as of the date of the recording and are subject to change. These views are not intended as a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, and should not be relied on as financial, tax, or legal advice. You should consult with your financial professional, accountant, or tax professional before implementing any transactions or strategies concerning your finances.